“Tax is a danger for the country,” says François-Xavier Bellamy

Europe1 .fr
08h57, November 25, 2024modified to

09h01, November 25, 2024

The government is testing its budget proposal in the Senate from Monday, ready to support most of the measures in this sensitive text before a high-risk return to the National Assembly, where the threat of censorship will weigh on Michel Barnier until Christmas. In search of 60 billion euros in savings to restore flagging public finances and reduce the deficit to 5% of GDP in 2025, the Prime Minister is counting on the upper house, dominated by his Republican political family.

“Tax is not a remedy for France”

Among the options on the table to make some savings: an increase in taxes. A bad solution according to François-Xavier Bellamy, leader of the Republicans in the European Parliament, guest of La Grande interview Europe 1-CNews on Monday. “The extreme vulnerability of our country requires us to make savings quickly but I believe that faced with this situation, tax is not the solution. Tax is the problem. Tax is not not a cure for France,” he said.

“We have the record country for compulsory deductions in the OECD”

“Tax is a danger for the country. We have the country's record for compulsory deductions in the OECD! If we consider that we can continue to increase taxes and if we try to justify that by an imperative of greater equity when we already have the country which redistributes the most in the entire European Union, I think we are misguided about the reality of the economic situation”, he concluded at the microphone of Europe 1.

After the Senate, the budget will be examined by the joint committee (CMP) where seven deputies and seven senators will try to find a compromise on the text. If they succeed, the final version of the text seems promised at 49.3 upon its return to the National Assembly and therefore to a motion of censure from the left, which the National Rally could also vote for.